"So, this is the kitchen, don't touch, and my bedroom, also don't touch."
Hotaru snuck at glance at her new houseguest, wondering how he would respond to her reprimands. In retrospect, allowing a complete and total stranger (Who also appeared to be working part-time as a professional hobo with anger-management issues.) probably wasn't the most logical of choices but Hotaru hadn't earned the nickname "Firebrand" by ignoring her impulses.
The young man hadn't moved from where he stood in the middle of the living room, not that he needed to. The apartment itself was extremely small, if you were putting it nicely. Every single one of the rooms could be seen from the front entrance, with only narrow doorways to obscure the view. The walls were dull orange and chipped, the furniture had been rescued from dumpsters or bought second hand and was practically falling apart, but it was the only home Hotaru had ever known.
"So…you can crash here, for now." She said, gesturing towards the couch. The young man approached it, running his hands across the worn brown sofa like he had never seen one before. With an exhausted sigh, he abruptly flopped facedown on the sagging cushions and resumed a position rather similar to the one Hotaru had found him in moments before.
"Wake me when there's something to eat" he mumbled.
"Oh hell no." Hotaru exclaimed. She reached over and grabbed him by the collar of his tattered jacket.
"What the- hands off!"
"Look, I'm going to make this nice and simple for you." She said, dropping her charge on the floor and crossing her arms. "Yeah, I took you in, my mistake. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to wait on you hand and foot because unlike most people, I'm lucky enough to have a job, make that jobs, actually."
"Uh…"
"And thanks to your little performance this morning, I'm probably going to be late for all of them" Hotaru was zeroing in like a hawk on it's prey. Her guest was on the ground in the most awkward position, somewhere between squatting and lying down, and was skittering backwards away from his psychotic hostess as fast as he could manage.
"If you're going to stay here, you are going pull your weight." She continued, heading in for the kill. "I've worked too long and too hard to have some pompous, obnoxious, self-entitled pretty boy to take it away from me!"
The "pretty boy" was plastered against the wall with Hotaru looming over him, and he looked like he was about to soil his pants.
"Wait." He interjected, bringing Hotaru's rant to a screeching halt. "You really think I'm pretty?"
"What? I-" The tables had suddenly turned. Hotaru began to back up as the young man rose from the floor, brushing dust from his clothes. A slight gleam had crept into his formerly dull eyes, and the slightest trace of a smirk appeared near the corner of his mouth.
"You know how this looks," he said, his voice dropping an octave "A guy and girl together in an apartment, alone"
It was Hotaru's turn to be cornered. The young man was advancing on her much more quickly than she would have preferred; she now found herself backed up against the opposite wall and her houseguest was becoming far too intimate with her personal space.
"This is insane." She protested as the young man began to lean forward and braced his arm against the wall "I don't even know you!"
"I can fix that." He whispered and licked his lips. His face was inches away from hers. She could see every feature perfectly defined, the porcelain smoothness of his pale skin, and the slight raise of a scar across his cheek, but it was his eyes that drew her in. They were almost completely devoid of color, just the slightest hints of silver pigment, like sunlight reflecting off a lake. Hotaru's eyes flicked to his mouth, the lips pursed and slightly open, tilting enticingly towards hers. It would be so easy to…
Okay, enough Hotaru thought. In one swift movement, her knee connected with her assailant's groin and she had sidestepped out of the way, heading towards the door before his body even hit the ground.
"How did you-?" he gasped
"There's a lot about me you don't understand." Hotaru responded and slung her bag over her shoulder. "Speaking of which, I didn't catch your name. I always make a habit of being personally acquainted with the guys who's asses I kick."
"Tahno. It's Tahno"
"Tahno huh?" Hotaru asked as she started to leave. "I'm Hotaru. There's food in the cupboards. Try not to wreck anything while I'm gone, and you might just live to see tomorrow."
The door swung shut with a dry click. Tahno heaved slightly and then pulled himself up onto the couch. Despite the searing pain between his legs, there was a smile on the young man's face. Memories began coursing through his mind, another time, another place, another life. He had been one of the most respected benders on the circuit. People had literally fallen before his feet and this girl had managed to down him without even batting an eye. Things were certainly going to get interesting.